Facility management

Last updated

Facility management [1] or facilities management (FM) is a professional discipline focused on coordinating the use of space, infrastructure, people, and organization. Facilities management ensures that physical assets and environments are managed effectively to meet the needs of their users. By integrating maintenance, safety, efficiency, and comfort, FM supports organizational goals within the built environment. The profession operates under global standards such as ISO 41001 and is guided by organizations like the International Facility Management Association (IFMA).

Contents

History

The concept of facilities management originated in the 1960s, primarily in the context of IT systems management. The term was coined by IBM alumnus and Electronic Data Systems founder Ross Perot, to describe the integration of network management and support services. Over time, it expanded to include broader elements of building and operational management. [2] [3]

Facility management as integral to the processes of strategic organizational planning was represented during a 1979 conference sponsored by Herman Miller. [2] Following the meeting, the furniture manufacturer opened the Facility Management Institute (FMI), with its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. [2]

The National Facility Management Association (NFMA) was formed in 1980, separating the overall profession from a single enterprise. [2] In 1982, the NFMA expanded to form the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) [4]

In 1986, the first professional FM organization was launched in the UK, as the Association of Facility Managers (AFM). [2]

Definitions and scope

Facility management encompasses interdisciplinary business functions to balance the demand and supply of facilities and services. The term “facility” includes all tangible assets supporting an organization, such as real estate, buildings, infrastructure, HVAC systems, IT services, and more.

In 2017, ISO 41011 defined FM as the "organizational function which integrates people, place and process within the built environment with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people and the productivity of the core business." [5] The ISO definition was formally adopted by BIFM in August 2017. [5] ISO 41001:2018 provided a management framework to implement these principles. [6] [7]

Scope

Facilities management is divided into two major categories:

  1. Hard FM, referring to the management of physical infrastructure, including HVAC, plumbing, lighting, and maintenance.
  2. Soft FM, referring to services supporting occupants including cleaning, catering, security, and event setups. [8]

Key Competencies

According to the IFMA: "FM is the practice of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of the organization. It integrates the principles of business administration, architecture, and the behavioral and engineering sciences." [9] In a 2017 global job task analysis, [10] IFMA identified eleven competencies of facility management as:

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management, formerly the British Institute of Facilities Management, [11] adopted the European definition and through its accredited qualification framework offers career path curriculum ranging from school leaver level through to master's degree level that is aligned with the European Qualifications framework.[ citation needed ]

FM may also cover activities other than business services: these are referred to as non-core functions and vary from one business sector to another. FM is also subject to continuous innovation and development, under pressure to reduce costs and to add value to the core business of public or private sector client organizations. [12]

Accredited academics

Facility management is supported with education, training, and professional qualifications often coordinated by FM institutes, universities, and associations. Degree programs exist at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Facility Management [13] has been a recognised academic discipline since the 1990s. Initial FM research work in Europe started in universities in the UK, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, where academies funded research centers and began to establish courses at Bachelors, Masters, and PhD levels.[ citation needed ]

Early European FM research centers include the Centre for Facilities Management (CFM), founded in Glasgow in 1990; the Centre for People and Buildings at Delft University of Technology; and Metamorphose at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.[ citation needed ] The University of Moratuwa Faculty of Architecture in Sri Lanka has offered a BSc. degree in Facilities Management since 2006. [14]

In 2018, 50 universities and research institutions were represented in EUROFM. [15] The German Facility Management Association (GEFMA) has certified 16 FM study programs and courses at universities and universities of applied sciences in Germany. [16]

As of 2021, IFMA accredits university degree programs in the United States, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Sweden, Hong Kong, Ireland, and the Netherlands. [17]

Role of the facilities manager

Facilities managers (FMs) operate across business functions. The main priority of an FM is keeping people alive and safe. Facility managers need to operate at two levels:

EHS: environment, health and safety

The FM department in an organization is required to identify, analyze, evaluate, control, and manage many environment and safety-related issues. Failure to do so may lead to unhealthy conditions leading to employees falling sick, injury, loss of business, prosecution, and insurance claims. The confidence of customers and investors in the business may also be affected by adverse publicity from safety lapses.

Fire safety

The threat from fire carries one of the highest risks to loss of life, and the potential to damage property or shut down a business. The facilities management department will have in place maintenance, inspection, and testing for all of the facility's fire safety equipment and life safety systems, keeping records and certificates of compliance.

Security

Protection of employees and the business often comes under the control of the facilities management department, particularly the maintenance of security hardware. Staffed guarding may be under the control of a separate department.

Maintenance, testing and inspections

Maintenance, testing, and inspection schedules are required to ensure that the facility is operating safely and efficiently in compliance with statutory obligations, to maximize the life of equipment, and to reduce the risk of failure. The work is planned, often using a computer-aided facility management (CAFM) system. Building maintenance includes all preventative, remedial, and upgrades works required for the upkeep and improvement of buildings and their components. These works may include disciplines such as painting and decorating, carpentry, plumbing, glazing, plastering, and tiling.

Buildings may be designed with a view to minimizing their maintenance requirement. [18]

Cleaning

Cleaning operations are often undertaken out of business hours, but provision may be made during times of occupations for the cleaning of toilets, replenishing consumables (such as toilet rolls, soap) plus litter picking and reactive response is scheduled as a series of periodic (daily, weekly and monthly) tasks.

Operational

The facilities management department has responsibilities for the day-to-day running of the building; these tasks may be outsourced or carried out by directly employed staff. This is a policy issue, but due to the immediacy of the response required in many of the activities involved the facilities manager will often require daily reports or an escalation procedure.

Some issues require more than just periodic maintenance, for example, those that can stop or hamper the productivity of the business or that have safety implications. Many of these are managed by the facilities management "help desk" that staff is able to be contacted either by telephone or email. The response to help desk calls is prioritized but may be as simple as too hot or too cold, lights not working, photocopier jammed, coffee spills, or vending machine problems.

Help desks may be used to book meeting rooms, car parking spaces, and many other services, but this often depends on how the facilities department is organized. Facilities may be split into two sections, often referred to as "soft" services such as reception and post room, and "hard" services, such as the mechanical, fire, and electrical services. [19] Due to climate change, FM providers are increasingly focused on environmental, social and governance compliance considerations. [20] [21]

Business continuity planning

All organizations should have a continuity plan so that in the event of a fire or major failure the business can recover quickly. In large organizations, it may be that the staff move to another site that has been set up to model the existing operation. The facilities management department would be one of the key players should it be necessary to move the business to a recovery site.

Space allocation and changes

In many organizations, office layouts are subject to frequent changes. This process is referred to as churn, and the percentage of the staff moved during a year is known as the "churn rate". These moves are normally planned by the facilities management department using a computer-aided design (CAD) system. In addition to meeting the needs of the business, compliance with statutory requirements related to office layouts include:

Consideration may also be given to vending, catering, or a place where staff can make a drink and take a break from their desk.

World Facilities Management Day

Since 2009, Global FM has sponsored a "World FM Day". [22] to celebrate and recognize the contributions of facilities management professionals. The event highlights the role of the facilities manager in driving sustainability, innovation, and operational excellence worldwide.

See also

Related Research Articles

Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include manpower, labor, labor-power, or personnel.

A document management system (DMS) is usually a computerized system used to store, share, track and manage files or documents. Some systems include history tracking where a log of the various versions created and modified by different users is recorded. The term has some overlap with the concepts of content management systems. It is often viewed as a component of enterprise content management (ECM) systems and related to digital asset management, document imaging, workflow systems and records management systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office</span> Room where administrative work is performed

An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is an earlier usage, as "office" originally referred to the location of one's duty. In its adjective form, the term "office" may refer to business-related tasks. In law, a company or organization has offices in any place where it has an official presence, even if that presence consists of a storage silo. For example, instead of a more traditional establishment with a desk and chair, an office is also an architectural and design phenomenon, including small offices, such as a bench in the corner of a small business or a room in someone's home, entire floors of buildings, and massive buildings dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms, an office is usually the location where white-collar workers carry out their functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Facilities engineering</span> Branch of engineering

Facilities engineering evolved from plant engineering in the early 1990s as U.S. workplaces became more specialized. Practitioners preferred this term because it more accurately reflected the multidisciplinary demands for specialized conditions in a wider variety of indoor environments, not merely manufacturing plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fixed-base operator</span> Company offering air-side aviation services at an airport

A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, and similar services. In common practice, an FBO is the primary provider of support services to general aviation operators at a public-use airport and is on land leased from the airport, or, in rare cases, adjacent property as a "through the fence operation". In many smaller airports serving general aviation in remote or modest communities, the town itself may provide fuel services and operate a basic FBO facility. Most FBOs doing business at airports of high to moderate traffic volume are non-governmental organizations, either privately or publicly held companies.

Computer-aided facility management (CAFM) is the support of facility management by information technology. The supply of information about the facilities is the center of attention. The tools of the CAFM are called CAFM software, CAFM applications or CAFM systems. CAFM is often used interchangeably with CMMS since both categories of software practically fulfill the same purposes.

Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets and to intangible assets. Asset management is a systematic process of developing, operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets in the most cost-effective manner.

Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is the term covering an organization's approach across these three practices: governance, risk management, and compliance amongst other disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Facility Management Association</span>

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA), originally the National Facility Management Association (NFMA), is a professional membership association for facility management professionals. IFMA's global headquarters office is located in Houston, Texas, USA. IFMA also employs staff located in Antwerp, Belgium; and Shanghai, China.

A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to management of hotel staff, business management, upkeep and sanitary standards of hotel facilities, guest satisfaction and customer service, marketing management, sales management, revenue management, financial accounting, purchasing, and other functions. The title "hotel manager" or "hotelier" often refers to the hotel's general manager who serves as a hotel's head executive, though their duties and responsibilities vary depending on the hotel's size, purpose, and expectations from ownership. The hotel's general manager is often supported by subordinate department managers that are responsible for individual departments and key functions of the hotel operations.

Medical equipment management is a term for the professionals who manage operations, analyze and improve utilization and safety, and support servicing healthcare technology. These healthcare technology managers are, much like other healthcare professionals referred to by various specialty or organizational hierarchy names.

Building management is a discipline that comes under the umbrella of facility management. Hard services usually relate to physical, structural services such as fire alarm systems, lifts, and so on whereas soft services allude to cleaning, landscaping, security, and suchlike human-sourced services.

An occupational safety management system (OSMS) is a management system designed to manage occupational safety and health risks in the workplace. If the system contains elements of management of longer-term health impacts and occupational disease, it may be referred to as a occupational safety and health management system (OSHMS) or occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infrastructure asset management</span> Maintenance of public infrastructure assets

Infrastructure asset management is the integrated, multidisciplinary set of strategies in sustaining public infrastructure assets such as water treatment facilities, sewer lines, roads, utility grids, bridges, and railways. Generally, the process focuses on the later stages of a facility's life cycle, specifically maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement. Asset management specifically uses software tools to organize and implement these strategies with the fundamental goal to preserve and extend the service life of long-term infrastructure assets which are vital underlying components in maintaining the quality of life in society and efficiency in the economy. In the 21st century, climate change adaptation has become an important part of infrastructure asset management competence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office space planning</span> Process of organizing workspace layout

Office space planning is the process of organizing the workplace layout, furniture and office functions to work effectively together, while using space efficiently. Floor plans should consider the workgroup function, building codes and regulations, lighting, teaming requirements, inter-communication and storage, as well as zoning for employee workstations, task space needs, support rooms and reception areas to make the best use of available space. Optimising office spaces with effective space planning can aid circulation, productivity and improve workplace wellness, as well as the health and safety of occupants.

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management is a United Kingdom-based professional association for the facilities management sector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupational safety and health</span> Field concerned with the safety, health and welfare of people at work

Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. OSH is related to the fields of occupational medicine and occupational hygiene and aligns with workplace health promotion initiatives. OSH also protects all the general public who may be affected by the occupational environment.

The Annex SL is a section of the ISO/IEC Directives part 1 that prescribes how ISO Management System Standard (MSS) standards should be written. The aim of Annex SL is to enhance the consistency and alignment of MSS by providing a unifying and agreed-upon high level structure, identical core text and common terms and core definitions. The aim being that all ISO Type A MSS are aligned and the compatibility of these standards is enhanced.

The Global Facility Management Association is a federation of facilities management associations. It shares knowledge and understanding of facility management.

Data center management is the collection of tasks performed by those responsible for managing ongoing operation of a data center. This includes Business service management and planning for the future.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility management: Guidance on facility management processes". doi:10.3403/30186132u.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wiggins, Jane M. (2010). Facilities Manager's Desk Reference. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-4051-8661-2 . Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Yost, Jeffrey R. (2017). Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN   978-0-262-03672-6. OCLC   978286108.
  4. ↑ "THE IFMA STORY: FOUR DECADES OF COMMITMENT TO SUPPORTING AND ADVANCING FM". ifma.org. International Facility Management Association. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  5. 1 2 Eltringham, Mark (3 August 2017). "BIFM formally adopts new ISO definition of facilities management". Workplace Insight. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "New ISO standard in development to facilitate facilities management". iso.org. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  7. ↑ ISO 41001 : Facility management — Management systems — Requirements with guidance for use (2018)
  8. ↑ Murray, James (2020-01-30). Facility Management: The Difference Between Hard and Soft FM. Insightsforprofessionals.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  9. ↑ IFMA 1998
  10. ↑ "Executive Summary the Job Task Analysis" (PDF). /ifma.org. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Transitioning from BIFM to IWFM". Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  12. ↑ Mudrak, T., Wagenberg, A.V. and Wubben, E. (2004), "Assessing the innovative ability of FM teams: a review", Facilities, Vol. 22 Nos 11/12, pp. 290–5.
  13. ↑ "Facility Management: The Essential Tools For Facility Managers". elearningindustry.com. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  14. ↑ "Building Economics". uom.lk. University of Moratuwa. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Members directory". www.eurofm.org. Archived from the original on 2015-02-12.
  16. ↑ "GEFMA German Facility Management: Studiengänge". www.gefma.de. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "Accredited Degree Programs". IMFA Foundation. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  18. ↑ Berawi, M.A.; Miraj, P.; Sayuti, M.S.; Berawi, A.R.B. (14 November 2017). "Improving Building Performance Using Smart Building Concept: Benefit Cost Ratio Comparison". Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Construction and Building Engineering (ICONBUILD) 2017: Smart Construction Towards Global Challenges. Palembang, Indonesia: American Institute of Physics (AIP). pp. 030001–1–030001–6. doi: 10.1063/1.5011508 .
  19. ↑ Wiggins, Jane (2021). Facilities Manager's Desk Reference (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. p. 23—27. ISBN   9781119633617.
  20. ↑ "A green world through environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance". www2.deloitte.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "LexisNexis Regulatory Compliance - The Future State of ESG Webinar". YouTube . November 24, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  22. ↑ Global FM, World FM Day, accessed 11 July 2022

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.